Time Traveller
by SweetPearl
Summary: Without an idea how, Tsuna is left in the Italy of 19th Century, in the Vongola Mansion when it was just created. Cut off of contact from his real family, injured and suspected by his own ancestor, he believes his situation can't get any worse. But it does, and he is not the only one to travel back in time. Post! Future-Arc
1. Chapter 1 - Black Hole

**Author's Note: **Hey people! Thank you for picking this story of mine to read! I know that this idea has been tried literally hundreds of time, yet I couldn't stop myself. (Hehehe...) I really hope you will enjoy it, and really sorry for the small word count! I promise to make them larger from next time. :3

Thank you! ^u^

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. **

* * *

><p>Dark.<p>

Darkness.

A flick of light.

He whirled around.

Gone.

Pressure.

Pressure from all sides.

A yelp of pain.

Tsuna felt a burning sensation on his limbs, as if someone was trying to stretch them against their will. He had zero control over his body. His spine contorted and constricted painfully, and Tsuna screamed in pain. His head felt like it was going to dislocate.

He couldn't breathe. There was no air. His screams made no sound. His lungs ached for Oxygen. It was as if they were going to burst.

_Is this the end?_

Tsuna wasn't afraid of dying. He knew he had to die one day, and he was prepared for it. But he didn't want to die; not now. Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto was waiting. Mama was waiting. His family was waiting.

He didn't want to die without seeing them once more.

Something in the back of his mind, his prized intuition said it wasn't the end.

There was still a sliver of hope.

And that was all he needed.

Pure sky flame burst out of his ring, a feat that left him even more tired and breathless than before. He had no flame resistant gloves to project his will into. But that didn't matter now.

He pushed his arms toward the back of his body. It didn't move.

Tsuna grunted in pain and tried harder. His mind was going into frenzy.

_No, no. This is not the time to panic. _He reminded himself. He began seeing dark spots in his vision from the lack of air. The images of his family flashed across his eyes.

Tsuna pushed his left arm back.

The flame.

There was the familiar sensation of warmth on his finger. It grew larger, larger and even larger. His body propelled forward from the pressure, bouncing to almost twenty feet onward. Zero gravity.

There was a light, and then instant darkness greeted his vision. Tsuna knew no more. 

.

.

.

_Hey, Giotto! I'm doing fine! Though, didn't we meet just some minutes before? Is this a new game? – Asari_

Giotto sighed softly. So far, it was only Asari who had responded to the 'Messaging System: Vongola Edition' he had invented. The others? Alaude straight-up crumpled the paper and threw it onto the trash can, G laughed his head off due to Giotto's 'horrendous writing', Lampo was sleeping, Daemon drew a… uh, not so innocent image of a woman on the paper he sent, and he hadn't yet decided to write to Knuckle.

It had started this morning, when Giotto had woken up quite early, and saw a pigeon drinking from the bird bath in the garden. His butler had been assigned to bring a thousand pieces of paper, notice- boards with the Vongola crest stamped on them, and at least fifty of notebooks with the same insignia on them.

Every one of them (As in, he and his guardians,) had been given a diary as to write down whatever they wanted to write- and others could comment, like or dislike it. The papers were used to convey small and private messages to each other by hand or by a '_slightly_ eccentric method' involving folding the papers up and tying a piece of rock to them, and throwing them to the destined owners. But so far, his _brilliant _ideahadn't received any recognition.

Something crashed on to the frontal wall of his office. Giotto snapped his head up. A crumpled paper, with a rather large sized stone tied to it (which would leave a similar dent on his head if it managed to hit). His eyes lit up, and Giotto ran over to see whose it was.

_Just fucking concentrate on your paperwork, Giotto. – G_

Giotto sighed again. How could people be so cruel-

There was another crash.

Not inside his office, but _outside_.

His eyes wide in alarm, Giotto turned around.

Because, it always meant bad business when there was a crash outside your house, you were in Mafia, and you were the leader of Vongola.


	2. Chapter 2 - Bleeding Brunet

**Author's Note: **Oh god! Did I seriously get that many reviews, favs and follows!? THANK YOU SO MUCH, PEOPLE. *Le giant bear hug* For those who hates hugs- Here's a plate of Virtual cookies for each! :D  
>Really, thank you!<p>

And to dear guest who reviewed- since you don't have an account, I couldn't PM you- so Thank you for your review! :D

And I noticed a big fault in my story- since fire needs oxygen to burn or form, and there was no kind of air in the black hole/ vacuum, it would be physically impossible for the fire (Dying will flames are still fires, anyways) to burn. I really love this idea of him getting out of the hole with his willpower- so let's just imagine dying will flames doesn't require air to burn; since they aren't regular flames (And it doesn't burn Tsuna's forehead…). I'm really sorry- and hopefully you guys will accept this stupid excuse of mine. ^u^

Is anyone OOC? Is the chapter horrible? Constructive criticism is always loved!  
>I know I'm making Giotto kind-of emotional here, but I believe him to be human- and hopefully it's okay to have 'those moments'. What do yo guys think? I'll stop if it's wrong…<p>

.

.

.

Asari slowly hummed the lyrics of _Sakura, Sakura _as he sipped a cup of green tea. The warm liquor helped calm his nerves, and provided him with a sense of home. Giotto always made sure to bring him authentic green tea, straight from the ships of Japan. Asari smiled fondly at the thought of his best friend.

Surrounded by low cut green shrubs forming a perfect square, and a statue of a goat was placed behind the bench he was sitting on. An ivory canopy with ornate pillars shaded him from the blazing sun outside. It was also one of the reasons to come here- it was cooler than the other rooms in the mansion- which were designed to keep any kind of coolness _out_. His flute rested on the low table in front.

Asari always loved this part of the garden. It was his favorite. It helped him relax, and just enjoy the serenity.

But it didn't last quite so long today.

_Crash!_

Instinctively, Asari jumped up from his seat after setting the tea cup down. He waited a second for anymore noises to come. There was none. He narrowed his eyes and picked up the flute to stuff it inside his kimono. It would be hard to pinpoint the source, but he already had an idea.

_The training ground._

Asari instantly set off for the place, moving in quick yet soundless steps- just like the flowing water he was.

_Let's just hope nothing is wrong._

.

.

.

There was no noise beside the one he just heard. No cursing, no jostling, no other sound to signify he had ever heard it anyways. If Giotto was any other person, he would simply dismiss it as hallucination, but the Vongola Primo simply _didn't _hallucinate. Well, for no reason, at least. And he still had to check if G or Daemon had murdered Lampo or something.

He unlocked his door to go out, but stopped at the last moment to close the latch of the window. '_Safety_ _precautions'_-as his tutor used to say. Giotto ran out afterwards, to find others and see what the hell had happened. He suddenly collided with G mid-flight.

"Oof!"

"G!"

G blinked in surprise. "Giotto? I was going to find you- did you hear the noise!?"

Giotto nodded. "Yeah! Do you know anything about it?"

"No, although I already notified the guards. I was going to check up with you… if that involved your new fad… or something."

"G!" Giotto protested, looking slightly offended. "I'm not that of an idiot, you know!"

"Yeah, sure…" G murmured under his breath, before straightening up and coughing. "We are getting off track, anyways! You want to check the noise?" He asked.

"I think the guards can take care of it, whatever it is; it didn't really look so important. Though…"

"_Though_?" G said with his eyebrows raised.

His intuition was nagging at the back of his mind. '_Something is wrong, something is wrong'_ it seemed to chant. Maybe he was just getting paranoid. But ignoring his intuition never went good. G frowned slightly.

"Let me guess," He said, snapping Giotto out of his thoughts. "Intuition?"

"How did you guess?" Giotto said, chuckling softly. G shrugged.

"Dunno. But do you want to check it or not? I've come to trust this sixth sense of yours." But they really didn't need to, not anymore, as a breathless guard staggered inside.

"Primo- Master G-"

"What's wrong?" They said simultaneously. Giotto could feel a sinking sensation in his stomach, and he realized he sounded panicked, which was never good for any boss. He forced himself to breathe in, and out. _Calm down, calm down. _He repeated in his head.

"There- there's a boy- injured, severely, in Northern training ground, we don't know him- he's bleeding from his head and limbs and wearing odd clothes!" The guard rambled in one breath, looking even scared than before. Giotto remembered he was one of the younger guards here, and was nervous easily. Giotto nodded, fighting to keep a straight face. He couldn't lose his cool- not when his subordinate was here. He needed to be calm. Like a boss.

"G, inform Knuckle." G nodded and sprinted off to find the priest. Giotto turned to the guard, "Bring the boy to the infirmary and check for anyone else- injured, uninjured or otherwise. Understand?"

As the guard made a move to go, Giotto stopped him. "And- and don't worry, okay? This is Mafia. Things like that happen." He smiled slightly.

The guard seemed stunned for a moment; not expecting such an action from the boss of Vongola, but after a moment, he, too ran off outside. Giotto felt the need to go along with him, to see who it was, and preferably assist in the search on further grounds.

.

.

.

"Asari!" Giotto yelled as he caught a glimpse of his friend who had been running to and fro with something that looked like medical kits, and saying something to the security staff. The Japanese man turned around, slightly surprised.

"I guess you heard the news?" He nodded in affirmation.

"Okay, so- Giotto- can you please tell the guards to stop crowding? We need to help the boy but they aren't just listening to me!" Giotto frowned slightly at the behavior of the guards, but mumbled an 'okay' to his friend before turning around and running toward the direction of his security.

"Why are all of the guards crowding here?" Giotto yelled. "Batch One to Four- dispatch immediately and go back to your respective posts! Five to Eight- search the grounds in each direction for any kind of intruders! Nine- take the injured boy to the infirmary- no- treat him with First-aid first!"

The place cleared instantly as the guards saluted him and ran off to their newly assigned duties, and Giotto could then take a good look at the boy. God, he looked horrendous, even by Mafia standards. His hair that was formerly brown was now smeared with crimson, and fresh blood leaked from a wound that was no doubt caused by a headfirst collision. His clothes were torn beyond imagination, deep gashes and cuts ran through the parts exposed. He only wondered _how_ _many_ _more_ there were.

He was quickly losing blood. It had to be stopped right now. Giotto placed a finger in front of the boy's nose. _Good, he's breathing._

Grabbing a large piece of linen from the medical kit, Giotto pressed it over the head wound. Asari had already gone to work, tightly wrapping the gauze on cuts and with another piece, pressing it hard. The guards were doing the same to the other wounds, and one of them was bringing a metal stretcher. The linen was turning red in _moments_, staining his hand with blood. _This isn't good. _Giotto took another piece of linen and pressed it over the first one.

"We don't have time to bring him to Knuckle! Somebody call him!" A guard nodded hurriedly and ran off to find him. "How are the other wounds?" Giotto asked without looking back.

"The wound on his leg stopped- the ones on his arms are merely scraps and gashes, we stopped them too. However…" The person trailed off. Giotto felt his eyebrows scrunch.

"However _what_?" His voice stone.

"The one on his torso is… quite… bad." Asari responded for him.

"Just- just keep on trying. Add more pressure. Is anything stuck?"

"No, but something seemed to slice clean through... I don't think any of us removed anything."

"We need Knuckle." He mumbled. He made a mental note to hire more Sun flame users.

The blood flow showed no hints of slowing down. _Blood is supposed to coagulate, damn it. _With each breath, the brunet's chest heaved up and down painfully, and gurgling noise came out of his mouth. _Where are you Knuckle?_

In reality, it was just little under two minutes, but it felt like eternity as Giotto waited for his guardian of Sun. Time seemed to slow, and Giotto could hear his heart hammering inside his chest. He felt an inexplicable connection to the boy. And- and he was so young. He couldn't let him die like this, not _again_. Not when he was there.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar voice of Knuckle screaming behind him. His heart skipped a beat as he turned his head around, and sure enough, he was coming; along with G, another Sun flame user and the guard who went to call him. Giotto couldn't keep the relived smile off his face. It had been so long since he felt so good to see someone.

"Giotto! Sorry for taking so long! Let me see him!" He didn't have to speak twice. Giotto, Asari and the guards all stood up and moved to the side, careful to not shake the body or the numerous gauzes. G came to stand beside him as Knuckle examined the boy.

"You okay?" G asked concernedly, slapping a comforting hand on his shoulder. Giotto looked lost.

"Yes, Giotto. You look troubled." Asari said.

"Huh? Y-yeah… I'm- fine."

None of them looked convinced. Giotto looked away. "Okay… not exactly fine. It's just… I- the boy reminds me of _him_." His voice cracked as he said the last lines. Giotto swallowed and straightened up, putting on his neutral façade once more. He purposefully looked away, not wanting to meet the gaze of two of his best friends.

"Accidents happen, Giotto. It wasn't your fault."

Giotto didn't reply, and stared at the yellow flames bursting out from the rings of two healers, looking seemingly entranced. Fire danced across his irises. "I do hope so." He whispered at last.


	3. Chapter 3 - Waking up

**Author's note: **Thanks again for the reviews, favs and follows. You guys are so AWESOME. :3  
>In this chapter (and following), Italian would be written as - "Italian here<em>"<em> and Japanese as - "_Japanese here_". And another thing, there will also be times when I use italics to highlight the amount of stress in a word. You guys would understand that, right?

Thankies for reading. :D

* * *

><p>Tsuna groaned, pushing his eyelids open. He immediately snapped them shut as the bright light hit them straight-on.<p>

His head hurt.

He tried to move his arms. They felt as if a hundred ton stone had been strapped to each. The simple motion sent a burning feeling through his arm. As if on cue, strings of horrendous pain broke through the area surrounding his navel. He hissed.

There was a rustle of footsteps.

His eyes instinctively opened, and he tried to sit up. Years of trainings from Reborn, he guessed. But it wasn't a good idea in this situation. It felt even worse than the Leon hammer hitting him, or even a kick from Reborn or repeated beatings of Hibari-san. His body felt as if somebody had dumped water on him and electrocuted him and the process went over and over again. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, and he barely suppressed a pained scream.

That would be another bad decision, anyways- his throat was incredibly sore.

He felt lightheaded as he opened his eyes, and the world seemed to do a mad dance around him. Black spots showed across his vision. He dropped back into the pillow provided for him, squeaking in pain.

"You're awake!" Said an all too familiar voice, and his heart felt like it had jumped to his throat.

_No, no- I'm- I'm just hallucinating, it can't be real. _He desperately tried to convince himself.

But his hopes were crushed immediately as he hesitantly opened his eyes.

Excited honey-colored eyes stared at him, his black hair slightly spiked and a bandage placed over his nose. He donned a black robe with golden trimmings under a red scarf placed around his neck. Long, black pants reached to his legs.

It was Knuckle.

Vongola Primo's sun guardian.

But what even more horrifying was- he didn't understand a word of what the man was saying. It seemed like Italian. _I really should've pain more attention to the lessons… _Tsuna thought in-between all the haze and confusion.

"People usually don't wake up so early after losing so much blood. You are such an extreme child! God bless." He made a cross with his fingers. Tsuna choked on air. It _definitely_ was him.

But the question was- How? And _why_?

He was confused. Oh, so much. What was the man saying?

Seeing his puzzled expression, Knuckle stopped his rant mid-way, and after a moment, helpfully offered, "I'm Knuckle! You must be very confused, right? It's okay to be-"

_"Umm…"_ Tsuna mumbled. He wanted to say that he didn't know Italian, but how would he phrase that without even knowing anything beside the standard 'si, ciao, buongiorno, salve'? He decided to try his luck.

_"I-I um, I'm Japanese…"_ He pointed his index finger toward his mouth, and then waved it left-to-right to symbolize 'I can't speak'. Knuckle blinked for some moments as he processed the information, and 'told' him to wait a second as he went wherever- hopefully to find a Japanese speaker.

As soon as the door shut close, realization dawned on Tsuna.

Was he- was he really there? In Primo's time?

_How_ would it be even _possible_, anyways?

But he had his fair share of impossible things happening to him, so it would be stupid to assume this one isn't real. And how did he get those injuries, anyway?

_Tsuna felt a burning sensation on his limbs, as if someone was trying to stretch them against their will. He had zero control over his body. His spine contorted and constricted painfully, and Tsuna screamed in pain._

_Is this the end?_

Tsuna gasped in surprise as the memories flashed before his eyes. It was- It was- Oh god-

The door unlocked and two people walked inside, snapping him out of his train of thoughts.

Flowing blue and white kimono; a tall, black hat; spiky black hair; brown eyes.

Asari Ugetsu.

Tsuna was sure his face accurately resembled a gaping fish.

..._Shit._

And the man only confirmed his suspicion even more.

Tsuna gulped in fear as Knuckle said something to Asari, and the rain guardian turned to him, smiling brightly. Tsuna gripped at the bed sheets, his knuckles turning white just by the sheer force.

_"Nice to meet you, I'm Asari Ugetsu!"_ The said man bowed deeply.

.

.

.

"What do you mean by the _good_ _of_ _Vongola_?" Reborn hissed, trying to keep a straight face and not shoot the man in front of him. The man just smiled sweetly.

"Now, now, Mr. Reborn, don't get so angry."

"I'll _blow your brains out_. _Why_ didn't you notify me of this?"

"Would you let him do it?"

"No."

"Then? It had to be done-"

"I don't care whatever the fuck had to be done. And does Nono know of this 'Good for Vongola' plan?" The man hesitated, and by a split second, fear flashed through his face. Reborn pointed his Leon gun at the man, his onyx eyes showing no mercy. "Speak."

The man shook his head, staring at his feet nervously; all his cockiness gone in moment's notice. Reborn growled.

"_How_ _dare_ _you_?"

And he fired.

.

.

.

2 Hours ago, in Past

.

"So… I assume this meeting is about the boy?" Asari asked as he lightly tapped his fingers on the table. Giotto nodded in affirmation.

Giotto, him, G, Lampo (unwillingly, but still there), Alaude and Daemon were currently gathered around the Conference room. Knuckle hadn't been able to come as he had been busy tending to the boy. and Alaude was leaning against the wall nearest to the door, and Daemon stood adjacent to him. They both silently glared, and if looks could kill, they both would be dead in a second.

The walls were painted a light shade of gray, and the only furniture on the room was the long table with accompanying chairs made of dark mahogany and a large, gothic-style window was positioned at the left wall, allowing for light while giving them privacy and also, protecting against bullet fires. The curtain was currently drawn halfway.

Lampo was dozing off in one of the chairs. G stood beside the table, his posture straight, and he stared at Giotto with absolute attention. (It was kind-of creepy, to be honest, but Giotto had… adjusted).

Glancing around the room, Giotto frowned as he took in the condition of his guardians. He clapped his hands and called out, "Everyone, please take your respective seats-"

Alaude shifted his eyes to glare at Giotto. Giotto instantly paused. "Well… except for Alaude." He added meekly. Daemon chuckled.

Alaude exhaled a gust of air from his nose and looked away. Giotto laughed nervously. "And- Lampo, wake up."

No response.

"Lampo? Lampo- wake up."

Still no response.

Giotto sighed softly. "Okay… so, uh, let's start the meeting." He said as he took his seat. Asari was already sitting, so he just bowed his head. G took his position beside Giotto in the right; the next seat beside him being Knuckle's- but as he was absent, it was left empty. G silently breathed a sigh of relief. Lampo was still sleeping beside Asari. Daemon took the farthest seat from all of them, grinning to himself for whatever reason.

Giotto tried to protest, but stopped seeing it would actually be better for everyone's sake- him included if Daemon sat far away. And less destruction, too.

He took a deep breath before he started. "I assume everyone here heard about the boy whom we found at the Northern training center?" Everyone nodded, and in Alaude's case, he simple grunted in response. Daemon leaned back in his seat without any reply.

"None of us know him, correct?" Giotto continued, unfazed, as he had to see these reactions every single day.

The same reply followed.

"The guards are also on the negative side. I'll have to say that this matter… is big case of concern for Vongola. We searched high and low, but there was no trace of blood even though he was critically injured. It's as if… he's fallen from the sky. But that theory is improbable, so we have no other alternative other than to hope for the boy to wake up and tell us himself. And Alaude- can you search about his background information?"

Alaude stared at him for some moments, thinking about the offer. He curtly nodded, and made a move to unlock the door. "I'm going, since there is no reason for me to stay."

"Okay." Giotto said, and the door snapped shut. He turned around in his seat.

"Any comments, now?"

"Yes." G said, and all the eyes turned to him instantly. Giotto motioned him to continue. "The boy is… very unusual. As in- appearance. I was observing- he didn't look Italian from the looks of it; and did you even see his clothes?"

Asari nodded. "Yes- I've noticed that too. I have never seen anything like that before. Weird texture. He is most likely a foreigner- but the question is- from where? He looked Japanese, but Japanese aren't brunet for the most part- actually, none of the Japanese I've encountered had brown hair."

Giotto clicked his tongue. "This just mystifies it even more." He said. "Anyway- when he does wake up, we have to interrogate him. But we can't all go up at once- and especially not Daemon or Alaude. We can't afford to scare him."

G snorted.

Daemon frowned, looking offended. But his grin was still in place. "Oh, Primo, how you wound me so~"

"Freaking drama queen." G said under his breath, rolling his eyes as he did so. Asari waved his hands in-between them, seeing another fight starting up.

"Oh, come on- it's okay, right? No need to be angry!" He laughed. Giotto slapped his forehead in annoyance. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and a person walked inside.

Knuckle.

"Asari, can you come with me? The boy has woken up- and he doesn't seem to know Italian- I assume he's Japanese. So I need you."

All of the members snapped their heads up at Knuckle (except Daemon, of course).

"Okay, good. Asari- go." Giotto gave him a thumb-up. Asari nodded with a smile before jogging after Knuckle who was already going back enthusiastically.

"By the way, have anyone noticed how this brat looks like Giotto so much?" Daemon commented, his lower lips flipping in a pout as he twirled an illusionary piece of hair in his hand. Giotto gaped.

"_What_?"


	4. Chapter 4 - Akio Tsunayoshi

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update! And thank you all so much for the reviews, favs and follows. I can't still believe my view count has crossed 1000! 3 THANK YOU and hopefully this measly chapter will somehow compensate... eh? ^u^

"Italian."

"_Japanese._"

* * *

><p>"<em>What<em>?"

"I believe you heard me nice and clear, Primo." Daemon smiled heartily. Giotto still hadn't closed his jaw.

"Well," G mused, "Now I think about it- he really does look like you, Giotto."

"Don't support him!"

Daemon laughed. Lampo muttered something under his breath as he slept.

"You should've told us about your kid, you know."

"I don't have a kid! What's wrong with you all!?"

"Don't try to lie. I bet you did it with that Adriana girl." The face of a giggling, brunet and hysterical woman entered his mind. Giotto instantly shook it off. _No_ _way_. She might be the daughter of Sicily's mayor, but she was just interested in getting in his pants- and had no problem in explicitly stating so in each and every of their meetings.

"There's no way I'd- I'd do her from all that people there are! I'm not insane!"

"I doubt that, Primo…" Lampo had woken up, and was now yawning loudly; not even bothering to hide his mouth.

"You too!?"

"Nufufu. Everybody supports the truth, Primo."

"Shut up!"

"C'mon, man- when did you get laid-" Not letting G finish his sentence, Giotto stormed out of the room and the sound of double doors crashing together resounded through the whole floor.

"Going to see his son, I guess." Daemon said, not at all disturbed by the noise and conjured up a pendulum to dangle it to and fro.

G grumbled under his breath, "This is the only time I'll ever agree with you." Daemon laughed, and illusionary clouds surrounded him as he vanished out of the room. Lampo had just dug out a molten piece of candy from his pocket and was in the process of eating it. Giving a disgusted scowl, G walked out of the room.

.

.

.

"Things aren't working properly."

"I know."

"We should've come back a lot of time ago."

"I know."

"Will you just shut up saying 'I know'!?"

"If you tell me to."

"…Gosh, fine. I don't even know why I'm stuck with you."

"We're on a mission on the behalf-"

"Just shut up!"

"…"

"Anyways, have you got any news about how it's going in Sicily?"

"…"

"What?"

"…"

"Agh! Speak!"

"Alright."

"…Have you got any news about how it's going in Sicily?"

"Nothing new."

"Agh!"

.

.

.

_"Nice to meet you, I'm Asari Ugetsu!"_

Tsuna just stared. Moments passed. The man was still smiling.

Time seeming to freeze over, the room was completely silenced except the sound of his heart beating. He was almost scared Asari might be able to hear his heartbeat by how loud it was pulsing.

One second.

Two second.

Three second.

His sense returning, he hastily bowed while still somewhat-sitting. It wouldn't do him any good to try to stand up while feeling like a mixture of zombie and mummies.

"_I-it's nice to meet you too, Asari-san!" _He shuttered man seemed to almost beam at his words, and Knuckle silently crossed his fingers once more. Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief as he realized he had still managed to stay conscious.

But Asari seemed to still expect something from him.

…Oh. His name.

"_A-and, um, I'm Tsu-_" He abruptly paused. Giving away his real name didn't seem like a good idea. "_I'm A-Akio Tsuyoshi." _Asari's eyes narrowed for a split second before he smiled again.

"_Is that so? That's quite great- to meet a countryman here…"_

Tsuna just laughed along nervously, unable to say anything else. He was panicking internally. _He didn't believe me… not good. _

"_How old are you, Akio-san?"_

"_Ah, I'm fifteen..." _By now, Tsuna was sure that Asari was trying to get information from him. He had to be very cautious.

"_I see! You look even younger!" _The man laughed heartily,_ "You know, I came to Italy very early. Is it your first visit?"_

_Damn it._

"_Yes…" _

"_I hope you haven't any bad feeling toward Italia now, eh, Akio-san?" _Tsuna shook his head rapidly, and assured him it was okay. "_On that topic, how are you feeling?"_

"_Huh? Ah- I guess… it- it still hurts a lot… so, maybe, I'm better than before?" _He couldn't really say, since he had no idea how he got them- well… he did, but that was another story. Something best kept hidden inside the deepest pit of his mind and only told to the most trusted person- scratch that; it should never be told to _anyone_.

Asari blinked curiously. "_Why question it?"_

"_Well… um…" _Tsuna looked away, and down toward the pristine white floor. Should he tell them? That seemed like the only plausible action; since he didn't have any other idea about how to explain his half-dead state to the others. "_I-I really… don't know how… I got t-these._" He replied. Of course, Tsuna had to leave the main part out. Asari seemed skeptical, Tsuna noted from the corner of his eyes. But even if he was, his words didn't voice his thoughts.

"_I see… that's really unfortunate. Can you remember everything else?" _He asked, taking the only chair in the room. It was only then Tsuna realized Knuckle was no longer present. He wondered where the man went…

Now- would pretending for amnesia get him out of the mess? But it was too predictable… but he had hit his head, so he could do it. But he wasn't good at lying…

"_Akio-san?" _Tsuna was still immersed in his thoughts. "_Ah… Akio-san, are you alright?"_

"_H-huh? Oh- I'm sorry, Asari-san… I got a little carried away. C-Can you repeat?" _Tsuna cursed his own stupidity. He hoped he didn't mess anything up in the past. Otherwise… the image of a gun-wielding, fedora-wearing baby came to his mind. He unconsciously shuddered.

"_Ah, I was wondering if you have forgotten anything else, if you know what I mean."_

"_W-Well… I-" _Tsuna only hoped his acting would work. Furrowing his brows, he tried to look as if he was thinking about something. "_I… I don't think…"_ Tsuna stared at the ground, looking almost pitiful. The looking-pitiful part was easy for him, as he almost always looked pathetic- courtesy of Reborn, himself and every bully he had ever encountered.

"_It's alright." _Asari assured him. Tsuna managed to give him a strained smile.

"_I-I do remember things like my name and age and things about my family a-and such… but I don't- I can't really remember the ones in the near future…"_

He _had_ to buy this one, right?

"_That's great; you do realize that, right?" _Tsuna snapped his head up at the man. Asari genuinely smiled. "_Many people can't even remember the basic things. It's a good thing you do remember them, Akio-san. Don't worry- I promise, I'll find your family."_

Tsuna sat there in stunned silence. The way he said those words made Tsuna almost tear up from inside. It seemed so real- and probably was, considering the man's soft nature. He almost wanted to tell Asari that he was lying; but he couldn't- for the sake of himself and everyone else around him.

"_T-thank you so much, Asari-san! And- and please just call me Tsuyoshi, okay?" _His voice quivered slightly, but rather than that, it seemed just like it sounded normally. _Thank god. _Asari smiled brightly, and asked Tsuna to call him just Ugetsu- Tsuna of course declined- and then it was finally decided on Asari. The man bowed deeply as he took his leave, and Tsuna bowed back to the best of his capabilities.

Tsuna sat there, frozen, with his smile still in place. It was wiped off the second the rain guardian walked out, and Tsuna had a great desire to smack his head against the nearest wall. But he doubted it would be a good idea, since he could see bandages tied all around his skull on the mirror placed beside the bed. If- if only Reborn was there…

Tsuna sighed. If he was _that_ desperate to ask for Reborn's presence…

.

.

.

Giotto aggressively tore into the strawberry shortcake he had 'asked' the chef to give him (and scaring the poor man for life).

That was so embarrassing! How could _that_ boy be his son? No offense to him and all- but that simply wouldn't be possible. Since the boy looked something like fourteen or fifteen, he would have to be in his _early_ _teens_ if the boy really was his son! He only hoped Asari could do his magic, and gather some information and prove that _melon_-_head_ and G and Lampo _were_ wrong.

Gah.

He took another bite from the cake.

Numerous stacks of paperwork had been shoved to the left, and Giotto sighed at their sight, feeling a headache already building up in his head. There had to be at least hundreds of papers- _at_ _the_ _least_. It was the worst part of being the boss- and his guardians didn't really help on lighting the load, either. It was just so _annoying_.

He stabbed the fork deep into the cake as if he was stabbing the offending papers, and twisted it around. And stabbed it again. But he soon lost interest in that silly game of his and once again, his mind wavered to the thought of that boy.

Normally, he wouldn't care _that_ much since the boy had to be at least better and healed as he had woken up and was able to talk; he trusted Knuckle's judgment. Yet… the boy was found on _his_ property. He couldn't just let him get forgotten… he could only imagine how frantic the boy's family might have been- seeing no sign of their child and it was _his_ duty to help him.

The picture of another person flashed across his eyes and Giotto had to press his hand over his mouth to prevent himself spilling the contents of his stomach all over the table. Smiles and laughter floated to his ears, phantom, but clear as the day he last heard it.

"_Over here!" _

"_Now, now don't be so rush- you're gonna hurt yourself, you know!"_

"_It's okay- I'm used to it!"_

"_Yeah- being the monkey you are, I wouldn't doubt it!"_

"_Hey-!"_

And suddenly, that laughter changed to screams of pain, hitting him to the bone, time seeming to freeze as he heard the blood curling shrieks. Life's precious ruby liquid splattered all across his vision, painting everything in vicinity a bright, disgusting red.

And- and what was that on his cheek?

Giotto gagged and bashed his head on the table. It hurt like mad, but at least the pain gave him something else to focus on. His heart beat a mile a minute and adrenaline pumped through his veins. His shoulders shook, and suddenly there was a comforting hand on his head. Giotto snapped upwards, his eyes wide as saucers, his hands poised ready to strike whatever the foe that had bothered to disturb him.

"It's only me."

Giotto visibly relaxed at the sight of his trusted Sun guardian. "S-sorry… it's just… I'm having a rough time, you know?" He murmured under his breath.

"I completely understand." Knuckle smiled as if assuring him, and lightly grasped his shivering shoulders. Giotto lowered his head back to the table, and exhaled loudly.

"It's not good to inflict pain on yourself, Giotto."

Giotto looked up in surprise, "How did you know?"

"It's not hard to notice that redness around your head. And of course I should know." Knuckle said, continuing massaging his shoulders. Giotto smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah… sorry, I forgot." Chuckling, the priest let go of his shoulder now that he had calmed down considerably, and the blond straightened up to look at Knuckle. "However, you haven't come for just that, have you?"

Knuckle shook his head. "No… rather, I have something… interesting. Here." Carefully moving the plate of cake away, he sat on top the table and pulled out something from under the robe. Giotto peered up curiously at his closed palm. When Knuckle opened it, however, he couldn't mask the shock that had appeared on his face.

_The Vongola ring!? _

.

.

.

Reborn stormed through the Vongola mansion- having flown straight to Italy after hearing the story- not bothering hiding his rage from anyone else. The butlers and maids tried scramble out of the hitman's way as his tiny footsteps somehow _shook_ the whole floor, but only succeeded in ramming straight to each others. Reborn didn't spare them one glance, and walked straight up to the head butler after scarring fifty-five- and not counting thirty people- for life.

"**Where** is Giannini?" He growled out. The rather composed butler who was used to his outbursts- was now trembling at the sight of the raven, but still managed to tell him that the technician had taken a leave for sickness some days ago (actually, after coming from the future- but the butler didn't know that). Reborn dangerously narrowed his normally oval eyes, and turned around after muttering a quick 'thanks' at the butler.

_I'm going to fucking __**kill**__ you._

Sending a quick letter to Nono requesting to stay at the mansion and getting to a quiet place, he phoned Gokudera.

"_Hello- Reborn-san!? Do you have any-"_

"_Listen to me carefully, Gokudera._" He instantly cut off the bomber- he was in no mood to deal with his antics. Thankfully, Gokudera caught on to this, and just mumbled an 'okay'.

"_Since you already know I'm in Italy- I instantly tried locating Giannini, but he's at a leave of sickness-" _Ignoring a snarl from Gokudera, he continued, _"This matter is more confusing and dangerous than we thought. I'm staying at the Vongola mansion- and before you ask- no, you can't come, because I need you all at Japan. I don't know why Giannini did this- but I can't say anything before thoroughly investigating this. With me so far_?"

"_Yes, Reborn-san. C-can we help in some way?_"

"_Yeah. You all will have to usher away every innocent person Tsuna knew and protect them. Give a call to Shouichi and Spanner. We need everyone we got to help us. You all will also have to get along with each other, no matter how horrible it may seem- __**and it is your duty as Tsuna's right hand man.**__"_

"_I-I understand!" _Reborn could sense that familiar determination burning at the voice of Gokudera. He smirked and flicked his fedora downwards.

"_Good. And also investigate any abnormalities happening in Japan. I'll be doing the same in Italy. And let as few as possible people in this, understand? Just tell maman that Tsuna is visiting Italy with me. Okay?"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Okay then. I'll ring you later. Call me if you find something significant." _Swiping his tiny finger across the equally tiny phone, he ended the call. He looked up with a rare seriousness shining through his eyes.

_Tsuna, wherever you are- just be safe and don't do anything stupid. I'll make sure to __**torture**__ you __**painfully**__ and __**slowly**__ if you even have a __**scratch**__ on you if you return." _


	5. Chapter 5 - Suspicions

A/N: Thanks a lot for the reviews, favs and follows! Thanks to the guest reviewers, too! ^u^

Hopefully there are no mistakes (typos, plot holes or otherwise)! :D

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><p><em>The Vongola ring!? <em>

Giotto stared at them, petrified in place and slowly reached for the one that clearly had the Vongola insignia carved on it, and completely and utterly resembled his own. If he hadn't been cradling the ring on his hands, he would have thought that Knuckle had somehow stolen them. But… he still glanced at his own hand. There it was, in all glory, twined around his finger. Then, how?

"This is…" He whispered softly as he examined it. The only explanation would be a duplicate- but how on Earth could a mere copy resemble his own that greatly? And- and how would that foreigner boy get a hold of it? Was it a conspiracy…? The injured boy, the ring… but the pieces just didn't connect together.

There was another ring on Knuckle's hand, and thankfully didn't resemble any Vongola artifact at all. It had a picture of a rather cartoony-looking lion itched on it. He turned it over and over in his hand, as if doing that would reveal every answer and secrets.

"There's more…" Knuckle said, and before Giotto could come out of his stupor, brought out a set of mittens, a chain, and a bottle of pills. Cautiously putting the two rings on the table as if some outside force was going to take it, Giotto offered his outstretched hand to the priest, the latter dropping the things into his hand. He placed them all on top of the table, and took the chain on his hand to start.

"I found it on his neck, and those rings were hanging from it." Knuckle explained. Giotto nodded slowly. It seemed peculiar how he never noticed it; but it was probably due to his own panic and desire to help the boy. But the necklace seemed pretty innocent to him- though odd- so he put it back.

"No one knows of it yet except you and me, I presume?"

"Yeah. I took them straight to you. I hadn't the time to explain it to Asari."

Knuckle said nothing, except just watching and observing him as he checked the items over. Giotto took the mittens on his hand. And instantly knew they weren't made of normal wool, and weren't just normal mittens. The roman numeral- 27 was crocheted on it, and it mimicked the feel of his own dying will gloves. He narrowed his eyes. Just who was this boy…?

He took the rectangular bottle next, and after wondering how the hell it worked, he finally popped the lid open. He dropped one pill on his hand, and sniffed at it. It could be drugs. But no… it smelled nothing like drugs, and he was an expert on them (how was the topic best to be avoided). They had essentially no smell, and Giotto put it back on the bottle- deciding to ask Alaude or Talbot to examine it later.

While he was hoping for some answers, this revealed nothing at all; and only succeeded in making the matter cloudier. He felt like he should be wary of the boy- but his hyper intuition surprisingly didn't even ring up once.

"So what do you think?" Knuckle finally asked, almost regretting his decision since Giotto looked _so_ _tired_. He just shook his head and shrugged.

"I know so little about this to make any decision… I want to believe it isn't real… yet." The blond trailed off at the end, his eyebrows curved in a frown as he grasped a nearby pen and doodled lines on a piece of paper.

Knuckle nodded understandingly. "It's okay… I hope Asari will have some more information. The boy is under our watch and he's still very ill, so it'll be okay. For now, how about finishing the cake-" He watched how Giotto's face instantly brightened, "-And those extreme paperwork, too?" The blond instantly deflated.

"Knuckle…"

"You know I can't do anything, Giotto. I'm sorry." He chuckled lightly as Giotto just swatted his hands. He said, "I'm keeping these things, okay?"

Replying with an 'Alright', Knuckle petted him on the head. Hey, even Mafia bosses sometime needed these… comforts, right?

.

.

.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was in frenzy as he tried to locate his Sky ring and Natsu ring and all the other things he had. His bandaged and hurting body did very little to assist, and he had checked every single place that could have them- after tearing open one of the closed wounds and bandaging it and a heck load of pain- but he still didn't find any.

_Oh god, oh god- this can't be happening! Nononononono- Reborn would be so mad and I'll disappoint everyone- not to mention if I lose it and it gets to Primo's hands or some other guardian's-_

…_Wait- some other guardian's hand?_

Tsuna instantly paled, and whether it was due to the shock or the pain resounding through his body that caused him to blackout was unknown to all.

.

.

.

"Now, Lampo, what is it?" His patience had been thinning, yet Asari still forced his words to keep out as calm and steady.

"I want candy…"

"Lampo, I'm sure the chefs have some. And I'll hear your stories later, okay?" Smiling cheerily, Asari dashed out of the room before Lampo could reply. He hadn't expected the meeting would end so quick…

Balancing his head on his hand, 'the-great-Lampo' yawned boredly. "Yare, yare. Nobody cares about the prince…"

.

.

.

Knocking three times on the door, Asari called out, "Giotto, it's me." Hearing a muffled 'come in', he pushed the door open and entered the office. Giotto smiled up at him, albeit it was slightly tired and less lively than before. He couldn't really blame him for this, though.

"Hey, Ugetsu. Found anything?" Asari nodded, and took the chair placed on the other side of the table.

"Not quite much… I'm sorry; I got halted by Lampo." Giotto nodded as if that explained everything, and motioned Asari to continue.

"But I'm not sure if he's saying the truth." He said. "Apparently, His name is Akio Tsunayoshi, he's obviously Japanese, he's fifteen years old, it's his first visit to Italy- and he claims to have amnesia about the events that's happened just recently."

Giotto nodded intently, storing away the information on his head.

"Thanks. I'll give them to Alaude. If he's really speaking the truth- it'll make the search easier. And…" He said, trailing off at the end.

"And?" Asari raised one eyebrow.

"There's those things Knuckle found on his person, I'll just let you take a look first." He pulled open the drawer he had put the boy's belongings, and handed them one-by-one on Asari's extended palm. He let out a small gasp in horror.

"Is that- is that…?"

Giotto just nodded.

"And I'm quite sure… this Akio Tsunayoshi-boy is lying- or at least hiding something very important."

.

.

.

"_Now you say you can't even find Shouichi?_"

"_We have searched high and low, R-Reborn-san, but…"_

Reborn bit his lips to block the flurry of curses almost flying out of his mouth. This was not the time to be angry. He couldn't panic. He was the best hitman in the world. And he would **not **lose to anger. No way. That was Gokudera's line; not his.

"_Alright_." He said at last. "_What about mama and others? Are they safe?_"

"_Yes. They're at the moment residing at Hibari's underground home. We're making up excuses- but I don't know how long it will last._"

"_How many people are inside?_"

"_About ten, excluding us- who can fight. The Kokuyo gang won't come, though._"

"_It's okay, they can fight. Now… for our main problem..._"

"_I don't think it's done by any outsider, Reborn-san…_"

"_Yeah, I'm cent percent sure on that. The killing of the temporary technicians and Tsuna's disappearance- all are linked toward one another. I just hope I won't have to hand over Giannini and Shouichi's dead body too…" _Reborn mumbled._ "That bastard says he didn't do anything but I don't believe it._"

"'_That bastard…?_'" Gokudera sounded confused. Reborn growled inwardly at his little slip.

"_Nevermind that. Have you called upon the help from Cavallone family?_"

"_Huh- oh yes, Reborn-san. They're already coming._"

"_Good. Hibari's doing his work, right?"_

"_Y-yes!"_

"_Hmm… alright then, keep going." _Reborn ended the call. As if sensing his discomfort, Leon jumped from its usual spot on the fedora to lick at his cheek.

"Wha… oh." He petted the top of his chameleon's head fondly, and pocketed his phone with the other hand. He jumped to one of his hidden rooms, laying his hat down on the floor, the jet black spikes springing forward as they were freed from confinement.

_Giannini disappeared- no, took a sick leave, recommending three new electricians in his place… Shouichi disappeared even before we had come from the future… days passed… the electricians mysteriously died from drowning in the bathtub…Tsuna disappeared that night._

_Why weren't I or- in case of Shouichi- police notified about this?_

_And I can't forget about that 'Good for Vongola' shit._

Reborn brought down his tiny fist to strike the little wooden table, hissing in anger. It broke off into two pieces, and splinters flew all around him. Leon morphed into a shield, blocking the dangerous wood shavings which were hurtling toward him in the speed of light. He silently thanked the lizard, but only one thought was circling through his mind.

And that was-

_What does all this mean?_

.

.

.

"It's getting dangerous for us."

"Hmm… I'm more worried about that kid."

"Yeah. That old-idiot can be easily taken care of- but about him… we'll be crushed without doubt."

"Fuck no! Don't even think of it. We have to fulfill the promise; no matter what. So I'll freaking fry your brains if you-"

"Okay, okay- calm down, calm down. If everything fails, we still have the BP-1, right?"

"Everything already failed. It's not that hard to think of if you've got some brains. And those Vongola brats- I don't even know what they are thinking."

"I swear-"

"If you try to scream once more, I'll tell boss to reassign the post of the right hand man to someone else, Valfrido. Get out if you can't hold a simple discussion."

"Tch."

"As I was saying, Martini- you're… right. We messed up big time..." There was a long sigh of resignation, and then drumming of fingers on wood. Crickets chirped in distance.

"Using the BP-1 might be our best and only bet. Even though he'll be powerful- he and the other kid would be nothing against our ten thousand."

"And don't forget the injuries."

"That's right. Sir Anthony entrusted us with this, didn't he?"

And so, Reborn should have never ignored the warning bells firing in his mind when he went outside the next day. Maybe it was the presence of no one around him; maybe it was just his damn _anger_. His whole body felt paralyzed, and almost like he was glued to the ground as the purple bazooka- bigger and unfamiliar than the other one he used to see every day plunged on him.

_Fuck. _

Everything darkened instantly before pitch black smoke filled his vision. Reborn knew no more as a burning pain ripped through his whole body.


	6. Chapter 6-Present into Past ensues Angst

A/N: Ahahaha- hey... there... Happy... new... year.

Okay, so I'm disgustingly shameless, and I don't have any other excuse to give you guys except... y'know, ol' procrastination. That and I have too many (shitty) plot bunnies floating around my head and then cringing as I look at whatever I've written. I seriously do need a beta.

Aaaanyways, Reborn gets back to the past- (and there's a lot of angst on the opening *shot*) - and Daemon and G have formed a temporary alliance, Tsuna-angst, and... yeah.

Seriously, I'm truly sorry for making you people wait so much and give a shitty chapter in return (not a good new year's gift, is it?)- and I'm SO thankful and SO grateful to the people who have taken their time to review, follow, fav and even just read. I seriously wished I could've hug them all- but aaaaaaanyways- I'll stop my rant here, and let you read the chapter now. ^U^ (Thank you to everyone, again)

**P.S** - Many people have been confused about the 'Akio Tsuyoshi' and 'Akio Tsunayoshi' part. I'm really sorry- I guess placing the P.S on the current chapter would be much better.

So yeah- Thanks to Kyogre, I edited when Reborn says 'maman' to 'mama' (Maman is French), and Tsuyoshi to Tsunayoshi. She pointed out that it's not like the Vongola 1st Gen are going to suspect anything about the name ' Tsunayoshi'.

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><p>Reborn was the world's best hitman, the greatest assassin there ever was. He was unmerciful, cold, yet proved his loyalty to Vongola Nono multiple times again and again. Yet he worried and cared for his student under that amused, taunting facade. He had seen many things, experienced things that would leave men and women alike traumatized for life- yet he continued to move on, taking it all with stride. Because he was Reborn.<p>

The hitman, the one baby that everybody feared.

His past was not needed- what he wanted to be, what he wanted to do- his family- his loved ones- they didn't matter anymore. And he had accepted it. Then- then why were everything repeating themselves over and over in front of his eyes?

A loving smile, a gentle caress, a kiss on his cheek… his family.

"_Renato!"_

Renato Sinclair.

He grinded his teeth together.

_No._

He was _Reborn. _

Both physically and metaphorically.

Reborn knew it was all hallucinations. He knew his brain was in frenzy- to do something, to save itself from _destruction _forever. He was bleeding all over, his body was battered and bruised; he felt numb- as if his nerve endings were destroyed, and he had lost the sense of touch.

He knew he was _dying_.

But Reborn had so many duties to fill… didn't he?

Didn't he?

_Did_ he?

Reborn closed his eyes, because they were _so_ _weak_ and he couldn't find the strength keep them open anymore.

He decided, no- he _knew_, that actually, he _didn't. _He was just a hitman, a pawn to the uppers, and however much he wanted to convince himself otherwise, he knew it was _true_. Nobody would miss him if he died. No one would mourn; no one would cry over his tomb (if he even had one) and strew the earth with flowers. Nobody.

Except…

"_R-Reborn…?"_

"_What is it, dame-Tsuna?"_

_The brunet was shaking all over as he hesitantly brought out a small rectangular box out from his pocket, wrapped clumsily with orange papers and finally finished with a lace ribbon tied across- obvious as to whose work it was. "T-This… i-is for y-you…" _

_Reborn raised an eyebrow. For… him? He smirked as he grasped the tiny box with his tiny fingers. "Are you sure you're not delivering this to the wrong person?"_

_Tsuna blushed scarlet. "R-Reborn!"_

_Chuckling slightly, the hitman tugged at the piece of ribbon, which came untied easily. With another swipe the papers were discarded on the floor, and a sole cardboard box stared at him. He opened the box and brought out the object inside._

_A coffee jar? _

_He glanced at his student from the corner of his eyes. The brunet's shaking had multiplied, and he stared at the floor with absolute attention, eyes squinted and fingers grasped around each other. Reborn restrained the oncoming laughter and focused his attention on the jar again. No- it was __**not **__a normal jar. The label Nescafe was indeed slapped on outside, of course, but on the inside… _

_He twisted the lid off. Crumpled papers of different colors filled the pot to the brim, and looked like something was inside them. Reborn picked one up and tore it apart. Coffee beans rolled out, but there was something written on the paper by Tsuna's chicken scrabble._

_**Thank you, Reborn.**_

_He didn't know what to do._

_Eyes wide, Reborn picked up another. _

_**I know I could never say this out loud (You are so scary!) But you've really helped me so much, and I'll be forever grateful for it.**_

_He felt speechless._

_By the time Reborn snapped back to reality, minutes had already passed and coffee beans pooled around his feet; he had read almost all the papers in the jar. Tsuna was standing with half-a-foot in the air, contemplating whether to run- if he had angered the hitman…_

"_Tsuna."_

_The brunet let out a squeak. "Y-yeah…?"_

"_You're a dumbass!" Reborn growled out, jumping up to his student's shoulder as he lightly nudged Tsuna on the neck; his touch completely different from his tone. "You're a… big… idiot." He whispered, his voice quivering slightly as the brunet patted him on his head, smiling brighter than the sun._

Tsuna…

Yeah. He still had Tsuna, didn't he? He had promised everyone- to _himself _that he _would _bring that idiot to safety.

He couldn't die.

He still had a duty to fulfill… didn't he?

He _did_.

And with that resolve, darkness around him faded as a blinding light engulfed him, his own flames fueling and burning brighter than ever. His wounds were sealing, the gashes were healing and his blood cells were once again recreating themselves; because he still had tasks to do, jobs to finish. Not because he was the hitman Reborn, he was just Reborn- the home tutor of Tsunayoshi Sawada.

And he couldn't leave while his student was out there to face the wolves, _alone_.

.

.

.

"You say that Su-na-yo-si-"

"_Tsunayoshi_, G, it's pronounced as Tsu-na-yo-shi. And it's not polite to call him by his first-"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Sunayosi." G huffed, crossing his arms as he repeatedly tried and failed to pronounce the name of Giotto's 'supposed to be child'. _Seriously, Why did he have to give his kid such a weird name!? _

Asari chuckled softly as he shook his head at his friend's antics, thumb and index holding up sheets of flute music. "It's still not polite to call him by his first-"

"Geez, Asari. It's not Japan, you know. And the brat's just a kid." G said. Frowning the next second as if in deep thought, he glanced at Asari from the corner of his eyes. "Japanese… right?"

The rain guardian blinked. "Yes…?"

There was a whirl of dust cloud in front of him, and then the storm guardian was gone. _What the… _

Maybe keeping the fact that Tsuna was practically a suspect wasn't a good idea after all.

"Yes, you melon-head-"

"_Daemon_." Grinding his teeth together to restrict those god-forsaken curses that were threatening to spill out, Daemon Spade once again corrected the storm-guardian about his name. His hands were just itching to- to-

But unfortunately, it had to _wait_. He had more important things to deal with; and G seemed to know it too as he accepted it quite easily without much protesting.

"Okay, fine- _Daemon_. Yes, he's Japanese, and yes- Asari's talked with him. Yes, we have to learn Japanese to talk with him."

So that darn Primo couldn't do anything but get laid with a _Japanese_ woman!?

He had once tried to take some crash course from their own native Japanese guardian, but soon designated himself into defeat as _thousands_ and _thousands _of kanji figures leered at him from all places imaginable. It was horribly frustrating for him to accept such a thwarting loss; but he had coped… somehow. And- now _this_!? He cursed whatever deity that hated him with such degree to do this.

G watched him intently, well aware of his discomfort, but this time, he chose to stay silent because he, too was a victim of Japanese (courtesy of a puppy-faced Asari. Seriously!?) Gears were turning in both of their minds as they racked their brain for a solution.

Daemon suddenly smirked, his eyes narrowing as a _brilliant_ idea popped out. Turning around, he grasped G's shoulder and leaned forward, a maniacal glint shining through his violet eyes.

"How about… making the brat learn _our _language?"

.

Groaning, Reborn pushed his eyelids open. He seemed to be lying in some sort of a field; trees and evergreen bushes surrounded him from all sides, and houses loomed in the distance. The memories of the incident were still fresh in his mind. Even though most of his wounds were healed, his joints were still sore and his whole body ached with each movement.

But the question was- where the hell was he?

And most importantly- the question he ought to ask first- just what the _hell_ was the thing he just went through?

The bazooka.

His mind instantly supplied. Scowling, Reborn thought, _not helpful._

Then he realized another thing. His body wasn't as small and lightweight as it was before- it was-

He barely restrained a gasp of surprise. His adult body…

But just _how_!?

He had to sort everything out. Thank god Leon was still there. He affectionately patted the chameleon, as it curiously blinked at his adult form, his hand a bit wobbly with the sudden and drastic change. Reborn glanced around the area. It didn't look anything like Venice at all- if he counted the bazooka- _it… could be… but none of this explains why I was inside a freaking black hole. _

Leon had already gone off of him, sprinting around to explore the new grounds. Reborn smirked. _Well, I'll have to find it myself, yes?_

Tipping his (now enlarged) fedora downwards, Reborn let a low growl out; his eyes absolutely murderous as he crumpled the piece of newspaper in his hand. _Say __**what**__?_ The vendor looked at him fearfully, not understand what was there to make the man so angry. Truth to be told, the headlines were pretty nice today… right?

The hitman fished a few coins out of his pocket and threw it on the stand along with the crushed newspaper, storming to wherever his feet would take him. The man who sold him paper poked at the money unsurely. It wasn't in his native currency- what would he do with it? And there was _no way _he would call the man. Never.

_19__th__ Century, 19__th__ Century, _his mind repeating the words like a joking mantra, Reborn grasped his knuckles as tightly as he could without hurting himself seriously. His fingers dug into his palm, and even though the nails had been clean cut, he was sure it would live red marks.

That had to be wrong. He was two-hundred years back on the _past, _and he was in a town near _Sicily, _not Venice- which was literally on the other side of the country. The thoughts of the things they had to face in future replayed themselves in his mind, and while he wasn't afraid of that, he was afraid for his darned student.

What if he had met the same fate as him?

Tsuna had absolutely no knowledge of Italian- not their culture, not of their people, and not their _language. _He had no fucking _money_ with him, even.

And Reborn sensed something very, very fishy going on.

And he was sure the uppers of Vongola were to blame.

_Goddamnit. _

.

.

.

Tsuna wearily looked out of the tiny window of his current room. He hadn't been able get an ounce of sleep last night, and his hand kept fingering the place where his rings were, only to be meet with the hollow skin of his neck. Knuckle had brought him dinner, showing no sign that he had found anything suspicious from Tsuna, but the brunet could see the man stare at him from the corners of his eyes, burning holes onto his head.

And he would be lying if he said there wasn't a presence behind the door when he went to sleep, because he _knew_ there was.

Some of his wounds had taken a turn for the worse, opening up once again and one getting infected- courtesy of his horrendous binding skills- which only served to heighten their suspicion of him.

Tsuna almost wanted to cry, because he seriously had never felt _so alone; _not when everyone on the school hated him and he had been bullied everyday and his mother was oblivious to everything; not when he was in the future and forced to battle an enemy that was so greater and so much more powerful than him.

There was no one, _no one _to help him. He was never safe here, always watched, always suspected.

By his own ancestor- and his guardians.

He never felt _so_ _powerless_.

.

.

.

"But Primo, think about it!"

"I already said no, G." Giotto shook his head, focusing on signing the hordes of paperwork to at least clear one-fourth of his desk by the next six hours. G groaned in annoyance.

"At least think about it!"

Almost stabbing a paper with his fountain pen enough to leave a mark, the Vongola boss snapped his head up. "What's there to think?"

"Well, we could easily communicate with him-" Daemon began, but was interrupted instantly.

"Asari's there for it."

"Well, what if he gets sick or something? It's never bad to have backup, you know."

"Yes, but do you have any idea how long it'll take the boy to learn our language? Japanese and Italian are vastly different."

That shut both men up. They stared at each other, then to Giotto, then at each other again. There was a faint, victorious smirk on Giotto's lips. "Got it?"

"No."

It was time for Giotto to groan. "Why _not?"_

"If he's in our hands," Daemon grinned, "Then it will take him _less_ than _two_ weeks."

"No!" The word was out of his mouth even before he could think. "No way I'm permitting you to teach the boy _anything_."

"Getting protective, hmm?"

Giotto felt as if his cheeks had gone scarlet. "Shut up! And... There's more to why I can't let you teach him."

"Which is?"

Giotto took the items out again, getting ready to explain them over again.

His explanation was soon over, and G seemed positively worried, his eyebrows curved together on a frown as he took out a cigarette.

"No smoking in the office, G."

G didn't seem to pay attention to him, focusing on lighting the cigar before letting out a perfect ring of smoke. Sighing lightly, Giotto glanced at Daemon. The blue-haired man was staring straight at him, unblinking, but a dangerous smirk curled on his lips.

"D-Daemon?"

Daemon broke out in laughter. "Primo- I had no idea you would create such a creative story to deter us from getting the boy to admit he's your son-"

"I'm not! Try to understand-"

"Daemon." G seemed to finally support him in this. "Primo wouldn't lie like this for such a trivial matter. You know that, right?"

The illusionist opened his mouth, but whatever he had to say was interrupted by a knock on the door. The trio simultaneously whirled around.

"Come in!" Giotto called out, hastily masking his annoyance as the door opened. A suit-clad butler stepped inside, his right hand holding a letter.

"Primo," The butler bowed in respect, "Pardon me for the interruption- but there is a letter for you, and it seems that it is from Miss Adriana."

The blond barely held back a sputter, forcing himself to breath in and out, in and out- he had to maintain a 'boss face'.

"T-Thank you; please leave it on the table."

Complying and bowing once more, the butler took his leave.

"The hell the woman wants?" G mumbled as he peeked curiously at the letter. Giotto shrugged, tearing apart the head as he took the piece of parchment out. His intuition rang warning bells, and after he skimmed over the contents of the paper, he could only utter one thing. And that was-

…

"Shit!"


End file.
